Wednesday brings a satisfying spread of build-and-operate goodness, from the humble wire antenna to a from-scratch satellite ground station. There's self-spotting wizardry from a SOTA summit, a surprise SDR trick hiding in the ESP32, and some seasonal shortwave to haunt your Halloween dial. Pour the coffee and let's dig in.

In today’s roundup

• LHS Episode #635: Rust Everywhere — AmateurRadio.com
  The Linux in the Ham Shack crew returns for episode 635, serving up the usual blend of open-source talk and amateur radio news for the shack.
• Wire Wizard: Choosing the Best Wire for Ham Radio Antennas — OnAllBands (DX Engineering)
  No tower, no beam, no problem—this primer on choosing antenna wire proves the cheapest, most forgiving option is still one of ham radio's best.
• K7TQ: SOTA Self-spotting Using a SOTACat — QRPer
  K7TQ shows how a SOTACat handles self-spotting from the summit, a handy trick when you're activating a peak like Kamiak Butte without cell signal.
• Texas Radio Shortwave: Schedule for Halloween 2026 — The SWLing Post
  Texas Radio Shortwave shares its Halloween 2026 broadcast schedule, giving SWLs a spooky-season target to log on the shortwave bands.
• 5 GHz Drone Video, With An ESP32 — Hackaday · Radio
  Hot on the heels of the ESP32's hidden SDR revelation, this project pushes it to handle 5 GHz drone video—proof the little chip still has tricks up its sleeve.
• FT-857 CAT Control Windows Program for Yaesu FT-857/D — The DXZone
  This free Windows program mirrors your FT-857/D display and adds mouse tuning via CAT, a tidy bit of shack automation for a beloved rig.
• Going Whole-Hog on a First Satellite Ground Station — Hackaday · Radio
  Rather than a quick-and-dirty Yagi, one builder goes all-in on a proper first satellite ground station—inspiration for anyone eyeing the birds overhead.

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HamDaily Digest · Live band conditions · hamdaily.com